The assimilation of marine geophysical data into the maritime sites and monuments record, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has been subject to significant maritime influences throughout its known 9,000-year human history. In 1997, the University of Ulster, in partnership with the Environment and Heritage Service, embarked on a program of seabed mapping in an attempt to record the submerged and buried archaeological resources. To date, the geophysical research program has imaged about 80 19th- and 20th-century wrecks and about 100 targets of further ``archaeological potential.'' One method of integrating the results of geophysical surveys into the Maritime Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) is the use of the classification scheme CEBESSt, an alphanumeric wreck-site classification scheme based upon six site-specific variables: Composition of hull, Energy of wreck environment, Burial, Exposure, Structural integrity, and Substrate type, with t corresponding to time (the year of wrecking, if known). The classification is designed for use within a database scheme that allows for interrogation through character recognition and pattern matching.